McKee Says UFC Debut on Horizon

Criticized for a record heavy on decisions and a “boring” fighting
style that relied heavily on his wrestling, McKee pledged that he’d
retire from the sport if he notched his 19th judges’ nod against
Luciano
Azevedo at Maximum
Fighting Championships 26 last Friday in Edmonton, Alberta,
Canada.

Instead, the MFC lightweight champion stopped Azevedo in the first
round after opening the Brazilian with elbows. It marked McKee’s
first stoppage in six opponents and three-and-a half years.

“Well, I’m there already, brother,” said McKee, when asked if the
UFC was his ultimate goal before he retired. “I’ve got to be quiet
about it right now. Just wait until they tell you that, but I’m
there.”

McKee said his inability to finish fights in the past came from a
deep internal struggle within himself.

“After that fight was over, I felt bad for that guy,” he said. “I
split that dude’s head open. I just changed his face for the rest
of his life. That gash was so deep and so long that he had to
receive staples -- not stitches, staples. I don’t want to be that
monster. That’s the monster that came from the streets and when I
told you I had to go back to the ghetto and grab a part of me that
I tried to get rid of I brought him back and that’s scary to me
because I don’t think nobody can deal with that individual.”

McKee, who has wins over UFC veterans Carlo Prater
and Derrick
Noble and hasn’t lost since 2003, said he went to church last
Sunday following the fight and cried with his daughter for
forgiveness.

“I don’t get off on that, so I prayed and asked God for the
strength to start submitting people because I don’t want to hurt
people like that,” said McKee.

He also called for the removal of grounded elbow strikes, a tactic
that has been omitted from some promotions’ rule sets because of
the damage it can cause fighters.

McKee pointed to his stoppage performance as a way to silence
critics, including HDNet’s Bas Rutten and
Guy
Mezger, who regularly commentate MFC events on the network.

“This wasn’t about the fans,” said McKee, who teaches out of the
Bodyshop Fitness gym in Lakewood, Calif. “This was to shut up Bas
Rutten, Guy Mezger. This was to shut everybody up. I can do what I
want to do. I control the top game. I don’t get submitted. You
haven’t ever seen me fight out of a submission.

“I’m the baddest n----er on the planet at 155 pounds and right
after that, look what happened? I got a call from the UFC who said,
‘We got a four-fight deal.’”

When asked about his contract status with the MFC, McKee said
Friday’s bout was the final fight of his deal with the
Canadian-based organization.

“I did my obligation of three fights and like I told (MFC
President) Mark Pavelich, like I told Kurt Otto of the IFL: you
will have no one to beat me,” said McKee.

“There is nothing official on McKee going to the UFC,” wrote Zerr
in an email to Sherdog.com late Wednesday. “In fact we have spoken
to Antonio and he has denied making any statement that he has
signed with the UFC.”

If McKee did eventually grace the Octagon, at 40 years of age, he’d
be one of the older fighters in recent memory to make his debut
with the promotion.

“Genetically, I can do it when I’m 45,” said McKee. “I don’t drink.
I don’t smoke. I’m not on steroids. I take care of myself. I can
fight till I’m 60 if I want to.”

Extra passionate and zealous at times during his interview on
Wednesday, McKee said he’d figured out how to finally propel his
career forward.

“I’m going to make everybody a believer now because I now
understand that if it’s violence and blood which you want, I’m
going to give it to you the best I can,” he said.